This invention relates to multichannel communication systems and, more particularly, to such systems having transmission trunked channel assignment and requesting station priority queues.
Trunked communication systems are well known in the telephone and mobile communication art. In such applications, a multiplicity of subscribers share a limited number of transmission channels. The channels are assigned to subscribers by a central dispatch station. Commonly, the central station dedicates a channel to a subscriber for the duration of an entire interchange message, hence, the name "message trunking".
The message trunked systems suffer from numerous disadvantages. First, once a subscriber is assigned a channel he gains full control over it. Even though numerous others are waiting for channel assignments, he may conduct a lengthy message with lengthy pauses. Moreover, at the conclusion of his message he may forget to return the channel to central station control. A further disadvantage to such systems is that if a subscriber initiates a call during a period when all channels are in use, he is not placed in a priority queue, but rather he must reinitate the call at a later time. Thus, it is possible that a latecomer could be assigned a channel before a subscriber who has made a prior request.